Watch Sri Lanka v Australia, 2nd Twenty20 Live Streaming

Lessons aplenty for the visitors

August 7, 2011

Australia were schooled in the first match, can they learn quickly?

Match facts
August 8, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
Start time 19:00 (13:30 GMT, 23:30 EST)

Big Picture
There is no substitute for match conditioning. This much was clear after the first Twenty20 between Sri Lanka and Australia in Kandy, as the hosts showed the benefits of a testing tour of England, as opposed to the training camps in Brisbane and net sessions in Colombo that served as the visitors' preparation for the tour opener. The Sri Lankans also showed far better knowledge of the conditions, bowling plenty of spin on a surface that offered turn, while Cameron White preferred to use his pace bowlers in the latter stages and saw them belted out of sight by his opposite number Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Australia's coach Tim Nielsen described it as a "frustrating" start to the tour, but there will be more gnashing of teeth in store for the tourists if they do not tighten their fundamentals and show a little more understanding of the conditions that confront them. Shaun Marsh and David Hussey in particular looked out of sorts against the accurate spin of Dilruwan Perera, while Mitchell Johnson's first spell of the tour was disheartening in its inconsistency. More encouraging was the bowling and batting of Steve O'Keefe, and the slugging power of David Warner.

Australia need to show the capacity to learn quickly from the reverses of the first match, while Sri Lankan will seek to extend a psychological advantage.

Form guide
Sri Lanka WWWWL
Australia LWLLL

In the spotlight
Tillakaratne Dilshan was the undisputed star of the first match, and the Australians will need to find better ways of coping with his combative attitude and inventive strokeplay. Dilshan was not placed under too much pressure as a captain in the field either, as his bowlers kept the Australians in check. Cameron White said he had resorted to adjusting his field to counter the 'Dil-scoop' and thus created other gaps for the Sri Lankan captain, a rare admission.

Mitchell Johnson was attacked mercilessly towards the end of the innings, and was unable to find consistent line or length, let alone any swing. His work with the new bowling coach Craig McDermott is key to Australia's success in future matches on this tour, and he will want to improve his performance after a shoddy start.

Team news
Sri Lanka seem unlikely to make many changes to a team that performed so soundly and evenly in game one. For the Australians, Aaron Finch's pugnacity may be useful after some of the batsmen struggled for traction in the opener, and James Pattinson could be in line for a T20 debut.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Mahela Jayawardene, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Jeevan Mendis, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Dilruwan Perera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Dhammika Prasad, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Suranga Lakmal.

Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 David Hussey, 5 Cameron White (capt), 6 Steven Smith, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Steve O'Keefe, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Brett Lee, 11 James Pattinson.

Pitch and conditions
The surface for the first match confused the Australians somewhat by offering some bounce but also plenty of spin, a combination the Sri Lankans were far quicker to adjust to. Match two will be played on a similarly equal-opportunity surface.

Stats and trivia

* Tillakaratne Dilshan's century was the fifth in T20 internationals
* Dinesh Chandimal was the fifth batsman to be out hit wicket in T20I matches
* Sri Lanka had not previously won a T20I at home, losing their first four such fixtures
* Dilruwan Perera achieved the rare feat of taking wickets in each of his first three overs in international cricket

Quotes
"I had the confidence to play it. It worked and I think after I played the Dil-scoop they changed the field and I felt [it was] more easy to score more runs in other areas."

Tillakaratne Dilshan succeeded in dictating terms to Australia's bowlers in game one

"If anyone scores a hundred off 57 [55] balls it will be hard work to win the game from there. But look, there were some disappointing aspects of the game from our end as well."

Cameron White knows the Australians need to sharpen up after looking rusty in the opener.

Watch Sri Lanka v Australia Live Streaming World Cup 2011

Title contenders clash in 2007 final replay

March 4, 2011

Match Facts

March 5, Colombo
Start time 2.30 pm (0900 GMT)

Shane Watson is Australia's highest run-getter of the tournament so far

The Big Picture

The last time Australia were scheduled to take on Sri Lanka in a World Cup match in Colombo was in 1996, when Australia pulled out citing security concerns leading to plenty of rancour even before the tournament started. The last time the two teams did meet in the World Cup was in the final of 2007, when a farcical ruling over bad light provided an inept end to a much-maligned tournament.

Saturday's encounter, nestled somewhere midway through the competition, will lack the drama of either of those two events, and given the utter woefulness of the smaller teams in Group A, will have only a marginal impact on the tournament, though it is being billed as a 'big game'. The four Test nations in the group are near certainties to make the quarters, so any time two of them clash in the league phase, the result is more a battle for how high in the top four they end up, which will decide how tough their quarter-final opponent will be.

One reason to look forward to the match is that in a game increasingly dominated by the bat, where 300 is no longer a safe score, two of the best bowling line-ups in the tournament will face up. On the one hand Sri Lanka have their much-trumpeted, freakish trio of Malinga, Murali and Mendis, and on the other is Australia's old-school fast-and-furious trio of Lee, Tait and Johnson.

The match is also a stage for Sri Lanka to justify their billing as one of the favourites, particularly after defeat to Pakistan. And for Australia, the game is the first big challenge to check how healthy their chances of a fourth straight title are.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWWW
Sri Lanka WLWWW

Watch out for...

Tillakaratne Dilshan has the task of getting Sri Lanka bursting out of the blocks, a job he's accomplished in all three matches this tournament by sprinting to at least 40 each time. Sri Lanka will hope his stand-and-thwack-it method works against the Australian pace battery and takes him to the big score that has eluded him so far.

A few months ago, Brett Lee's international career seemed to be over after being sidelined for a year due to an elbow problem. Not only is he back, but like that other oft-injured tearaway, Shoaib Akhtar, he's showing he's lost none of his pace even in his mid-thirties. He was in cracking form in Australia's previous match, tormenting New Zealand's top order, though he didn't get the handful of wickets his spot-on bowling deserved.

Team news

Australia have had a week's rest since thumping New Zealand, so they will be no need to "manage the workload" of any of their players. They are almost certainly going to stick to the same XI.

Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 David Hussey, 6 Cameron White, 7 Steve Smith, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Jason Krezja, 10 Brett Lee, 11 Shaun Tait.

Sri Lanka have a couple of decisions to make regarding their bowling. Do they persist with Nuwan Kulasekara or bring back the pacy Thisara Perera, who also provides a big-hitting option lower down the order? Also, the second spinners slot 'remains a toss-up between Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis.

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Chamara Silva, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan

Pitch and conditions

It pelted down on Friday evening in Colombo, and there's light rain forecast for Saturday as well. If the weather stays clear, the teams will likely have to deal with a sluggish pitch, the same surface that was used for the Kenya-Sri Lanka match. Malinga's explanation of his array of toe-crushers against Kenya: "This is a slow pitch and bouncers will not work so I decided to go for yorkers." Expect more of the same.

Stats and Trivia

• Australia have lost only one of the seven completed World Cup matches against Sri Lanka - the 1996 final
• Ricky Ponting has the most number of World Cup catches (27), more than twice as many as any other current player. The next highest tally of a player in the tournament is Paul Collingwood (13)
• Lasith Malinga has an astonishing World Cup record: 9 matches, 24 wickets at 13.41

Quotes

"It certainly hasn't spun anywhere near as much [as last time we were in Sri Lanka] and the teams that have batted second have had a bit more of a chance in the game than before."
Ricky Ponting assesses the conditions in Colombo

Watch Australia Vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI Live Streaming

Friday, 05 Nov 2010

			Australia Vs Sri Lanka
Venue :2nd One Day International, Sydney Cricket Ground Live action starts from: 03:20 GMT (08:50 IST) ODI Sri Lanka Tour of Australia 2010-11 Match

Australia Vs Sri Lanka 2nd One Day International 5 Nov Live

The two teams face off in the second one day international on Friday 5th November. This series is important to both the sides in preparation for the World Cup and also significantly important for Australians to gain some momentum before Ashes. Sri Lanka would be confident after impressive start to this tour. Australia are a tough team to beat at home, but things can be different this time around.

The series began with Australia losing their first ever T20 game at home in their history. Australians are going through a patchy time in cricket. Defeats after defeats, disappointment after disappointment follows. Australia's performance has taken a dip at the worst time possible: right before the Ashes and World Cup.
Australia are welcoming the return of their key players Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson. Ricky Ponting may have to face more criticism if he fails to deliver; there is no doubt that Ponting will be shaky before Friday's encounter.
Australia have drafted in the Tasmania spinner Xavier Doherty to accompany the struggling Nathan Hauritz and promising Steve Smith. Bran Haddin has made a reasonable return to international cricket. Michael Clarke has said that Aussies need to get their act together before Ashes, as time is slipping away. It is always hard to beat Australia in their own backyard and Sri Lanka would be wary of that. The match on 5th November can turn out to be a thrilling contest.
Australia have won two of their last completed 5 games.
Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakarra is confident that Sri Lanka would continue to perform and impress despite criticisms and involvement of political influence in their cricket. Their preparations for the World Cup in February are in full flow. Sri Lanka have had an impress run by winning Asia Cup and triangular series in Zimbabwe.
Sri Lanka have looked a compact team in the tour of Australia which is never easy. All rounder Angelo Matthews' return to international fold after injury can provide significant difference to the Sri Lankan team. Murlitharan has always been keen to impress in Australia and here is his chance.
SCG wicket may give inform Lasith Malinga some help, he can be devastating on his day. Sri Lanka are a side which is looking capable of winning against Australia, the game on Friday can further solidify their claim.
Sri Lanka have managed three victories out of their last five games.